sweet. He paused, tasting it once more. Human blood isn’t sweet.
Is she sick?
Hysterian seeded into his ship and programmed the cleaning bots to come in and take care of the bed. He threw the sheets against the wall with his clothes. Within moments, bots entered his room and cleaned up the mess.
He strode to the bathroom when the shower turned on, intent to join her and demand answers. Because now that he thought about it, she had perspired a great deal, and she hadn’t even been that warm… He had tried to warm her up when he had her naked beneath him.
She has to be sick.
Concern punched him in the gut. His hands fisted. He stormed out of his room and made his way to the gym’s shower. He stripped out of the suit and tossed it aside, stepping into the water. It was freezing.
He washed quickly and was back inside his quarters a handful of minutes later.
Alexa was still in the shower.
He waited, his worry escalating.
He hadn’t been gentle enough. Hysterian paced. Alexa wasn’t some Elyrian whore who knew how to handle clientele and their unique needs. She was an average woman—for some devil’s unknown reason—who wanted to work for a glorified delivery service. Their paths wouldn’t have ever crossed otherwise.
He realized how little he actually knew about her. It wasn’t like him to not know everything about a person he was fixated on. Though, it was their fears he usually looked for. Alexa’s recruitment paperwork had all the basic information, but the rest?
The details were missing.
Why had she fought him so hard in the lounge? Her eyes had been glazed and she had dissociated. He recalled now how she seemed to relish the idea of taking a risk. How one moment she would be fighting him, only to suddenly give in and clutch him instead.
Who the fuck hurt her?
Hysterian scowled at the bathroom door.
He was going to fucking find out. She’s from Elyria. Daniels had been from Elyria too, and Hysterian had thought nothing of it at first. It was odd, having three crew members out of the original five being from Elyria. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
The odds were miniscule. The EPED was stationed on Earth.
He needed to start on Elyria. Hysterian re-entered the Questor’s systems, and connected to the network. Within moments, he double-checked Alexa’s files and verified she was from Elyria.
But hacking into secure systems wasn’t his forte, and Hysterian loathed the idea of asking Nightheart or even Cypher for anything.
Hysterian cursed again and shot Raphael an encrypted comm. His old boss would know where to dig up information on someone from his home planet. Raphael was one of the most powerful men on Elyria. Corrupt, murderous, and psychopathic, Hysterian understood Raphael better than other Cyborgs.
Raphael never hid his nature…from anyone.
He would get Hysterian the info. Hysterian was willing to pay Raphael’s price. However steep it was.
I just need to be patient.
His fingers twitched.
The minutes bled into each other as he glared at the bathroom door. The water kept falling, and his audio blasted the noise through his head.
When the shower finally turned off, he was at the door and gripping the sides, keeping himself from barging in.
Be gentle.
His scowl deepened.
He heard Alexa approach on the other side of the door, but she stopped. The door remained closed.
Be gentle, he reminded himself again.
His tongue snapped out to lick the inside of his suit. The door remained closed and his body pressurized furiously. His glands threatened to open.
Right when he was on the brink of secreting, he shot electricity into the door and forced it open.
Alexa, wet, flushed, with dripping hair, was directly on the other side. Her eyes widened when she saw him, and he pushed off the frame before he lost his mind with frustration.
What he wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall as she showered.
“Time for the truth,” he growled, pivoting before he caught her up in his arms. He didn’t trust his strength right now. She followed him into the room, and he shut and locked the bathroom door so she couldn’t hide from him again. He sat on the bed and faced her, resting his elbows on his knees.
She stood in the middle of the room, hugging her body tightly. Naked under her towel.
Hysterian palmed his mouth. This was not how he saw this night going. He wanted to remain the scum he was, pull her to him, and tear off her towel so he could see her